F35B Airwing

[Pelican]

Navy Lookout

RAF considering operating F-35Bs from dispersed locations (to avoid concentrating the force at RAF Marham where it could be subject to surprise attack).
NOTE: the ultimate "dispersed location" is an aircraft carrier capable of covering 500 miles a day.
See - https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/b ... o-highways

[Pelican]

FIRST UK F35B SQN MARKINGS SEEN (AT RIAT)
(16/07/23)
Over the years since the UK F35B Lightning force started to receive aircraft in 2014, there's been speculation about whether the UK fleet will ever carry appropriate Squadron identifier markings as the non-stealth sqns have done and still do.
2 principle reasons preclude this happening so far and they being the small UK fleet being managed from a single pool of aircraft for all sqns for the foreseeable future, and the fact that adding more decals to the F35's very expensive radar absorbent skin is both expensive to do and then remove, and if damage is done the costs blossom disproportionately. Other operators may choose to ignore that reality, but not so in the UK.
So that all said it was great to see a single example of a UK F35B Lightning Force aircraft suitably and specially adorned with a fulsome 617 Sqn graphic on the fin for the RIAT 23 air tattoo. While this was done on only one aircraft for now, its indicative of what be possible as the UK F35B force expands to its planned fleet size and the dedication of given airframes to sqns might returns.

[Pelican]

Lockheed Martin cuts F-35 delivery estimate for 2023

Lockheed Martin expects to deliver 100–120 F-35s in 2023, down from an earlier projection of 147–153 aircraft because of delays in developing the fighter jet's Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) upgrade, according to company officials.

Lockheed Martin delivered 50 F-35s in the first half of 2023, all of which were in the earlier TR-2 configuration, company chairman, president, and CEO Jim Taiclet told analysts during an 18 July earnings call. However, Lockheed Martin “remains fully dedicated” to delivering its first aircraft with the TR-3 hardware and software upgrade in 2023, Taiclet said. TR-3 is supposed to improve the F-35‘s computer memory capacity and processing power.
See - https://www.janes.com/defence-news/lock ... -for-2023/

[Pelican]

F-35 Spear Cap 3 missile project slides into the red

The Ministry of Defence’s SPEAR Capability 3 project, tasked with delivering the future principal air-to-air ground weapon for the F-35 fleet, is having issues.
The expected completion date for the project has been revised from 30th June 2027 to 31st December 2047, although the reasons aren’t clear.
Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/f-35-sp ... z8F7hYSfZM

[Pelican]

F-35B Just Touched Down On The Old Pacific Coast Highway

The USMC is developing a playbook to use its F-35Bs from improvised areas and to work with other services to better fight at the forward edge.

See - https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f ... st-highway

[Pelican]

Jonathan Beale@bealejonathan [Tweet] *

Final MOD inquiry into F35 crash off HMS QNLZ in 2021 reveals it cost £2.63m to recover aircraft from the bottom of the Med. Original cost of F35 was £81.8m….but recovered aircraft was “beyond economic repair”

* [J.B. is a BBC joournalist. Suggest wording of the 2nd line is misleading and could be worded much better.]

[Pelican]

Jonathan Beale@bealejonathan [Tweet] *

Final MOD inquiry into F35 crash off HMS QNLZ in 2021 reveals it cost £2.63m to recover aircraft from the bottom of the Med. Original cost of F35 was £81.8m….but recovered aircraft was “beyond economic repair”

* [J.B. is a BBC joournalist. Suggest wording of the 2nd line is misleading and could be worded much better.]

Following the release of the UK Ministry of Defence Service Enquiry into the loss of F35B Lightning ZM152 from HMS Queen Elizabeth during the Carrier Strike Group 2021 deployment. Focus for [this] thread is on workforce issues, principally insufficient personnel leading to fatigue.

The UK F35 workforce was insufficiently resourced from inception. This has led to an inability to generate the required Operational Capability. This is not just about Pilots, it’s the entire workforce.

Continues at - https://twitter.com/IntercityFC/status/ ... 0727825408

[Well worth a read thru.]

[Pelican]

Jonathan Beale@bealejonathan [Tweet] *

Final MOD inquiry into F35 crash off HMS QNLZ in 2021 reveals it cost £2.63m to recover aircraft from the bottom of the Med. Original cost of F35 was £81.8m….but recovered aircraft was “beyond economic repair”

* [J.B. is a BBC joournalist. Suggest wording of the 2nd line is misleading and could be worded much better.]

Following the release of the UK Ministry of Defence Service Enquiry into the loss of F35B Lightning ZM152 from HMS Queen Elizabeth during the Carrier Strike Group 2021 deployment. Focus for [this] thread is on workforce issues, principally insufficient personnel leading to fatigue.

The UK F35 workforce was insufficiently resourced from inception. This has led to an inability to generate the required Operational Capability. This is not just about Pilots, it’s the entire workforce.

Continues at - https://twitter.com/IntercityFC/status/ ... 0727825408

[Well worth a read thru.]

F-35 Crash Report Includes Sonar Image Of It On Seafloor
A British F-35B crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in 2021 after a protective cover got wedged in its engine intake.
See - https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f ... n-seafloor

[Pelican]

Let's talk about headgear.

DYK the F-35 helmet gives pilots a 360-degree view of the F-35's external environment without repositioning the jet? An F-35 Test Pilot explains more in a one minute video at - https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1427359011433652

[Pelican]

We continue our Test Pilot series with Commander Nathan Gray, who joins us to talk about his book ‘Hazard Spectrum’.

With over 140 combat missions to his name, he is among the most decorated pilots in the British armed forces and we share Nathan’s journey to the top of the Fleet Air Arm, from student to F-35 Test Pilot.
See - https://aviation-xtended.co.uk/ep-182-h ... than-gray/